Table of Contents

Cover

Preface

Cerisy Symposiums Selection of Publications

Introduction

I.1. Intent and status of the debates
I.2. Some framework elements around the management of extreme situations
I.3. Presentation of the book
I.4. References

Part 1: Exploration and the Extreme

Section 1: The Logic of Exploration
1. 1 An Exemplary Exploration Story: Nansen’s Expedition to the North Pole
  1. 1.1. Introduction
  2. 1.2. Aproject that makes “sense” because it is consistent with an identity-based learning trajectory
  3. 1.3. Aradical dual ambidextrous capacity
  4. 1.4. Adynamic of knowledge expansion in terms of an epistemic community
  5. 1.5. Conclusion
  6. 1.6. References
2. 2 Project Management in Extreme Situations: The Manhattan Case
  1. 2.1. Introduction
  2. 2.2. The origins of the Manhattan project
  3. 2.3. Exploring the unknown
  4. 2.4. The Manhattan Project organization
  5. 2.5. Project management as sensemaking
  6. 2.6. The expansive legacy of the Manhattan project and the limit of the metaphor
  7. 2.7. References
Section 2: Exploration Testimonies
1. 3 Exploration, the Common Theme of a Training System on Innovation
  1. 3.1. The initial context at the origin of the adventure
  2. 3.2. The launch and preparation of the training program characteristic of exploration
  3. 3.3. The heart of program design: a step-by-step exploration
  4. 3.4. The transition to exploitation
  5. 3.5. Conclusion
  6. 3.6. 2017, Toward future explorations
  7. 3.7. References
2. 4 A New Progress Technique in the Himalayas
  1. 4.1. Introduction
  2. 4.2. The Himalayan technique, a reference
  3. 4.3. The emergence of new strategies
  4. 4.4. But also, listening to the doctors’ recommendations
  5. 4.5. “Doing it together”
  6. 4.6. Snail strategy, gentle progression, slow expedition, continuous progression?
  7. 4.7. Not to conclude
Section 3: Toward an Extreme Ethnography
1. 5 Some Methodological Considerations in Relation to the Objects Involved
2. 6 Ethnography of the Extreme: Epistemological and Methodological Issues of the Use of Video
  1. 6.1. Introduction
  2. 6.2. An involved and involving ethnography
  3. 6.3. Interests and limitations of the use of video in the production of materials
  4. 6.4. Video, a modality of ethnographic writing
  5. 6.5. Video, for an ethnography of activity
  6. 6.6. References

Part 2: Creativity and Organizational Reliability

Section 4: Organizational Creativity
1. 7 Management of a Crisis Situation in a Large Video Game Studio
  1. 7.1. Introduction
  2. 7.2. Acreativity crisis at Ubisoft’s studio
  3. 7.3. Management of a major crisis
  4. 7.4. Conclusion
  5. 7.5. References
2. 8 Organizing Innovative Design or How to Remain an Explorer: The Case of Creaholic
  1. 8.1. Introduction
  2. 8.2. Innovative design and ambidextry
  3. 8.3. The case of Creaholic, an innovative design company
  4. 8.4. Discussion and conclusion: the IDE and a return to exploitation
  5. 8.5. References
Section 5: Creativity under Constraint
1. 9 Creativity under Constraint: A Management Sciences Perspective
  1. 9.1. Introduction
  2. 9.2. The different types of constraints and their actions
  3. 9.3. Internal design and cognitive constraints
  4. 9.4. Situational time and resource constraints
  5. 9.5. Border constraints
  6. 9.6. The construction of the sense of constraints
  7. 9.7. Organizational climate
  8. 9.8. Conclusion
  9. 9.9. References
2. Chapter 10 Creativity for Extreme Situations
  1. 10.1. Introduction
  2. 10.2. Introduction to creativity
  3. 10.3. Creativity and risk management
  4. 10.4. Creativity for anticipating extreme situations
  5. 10.5. Conclusion
  6. 10.6. References
Section 6: Organizational Reliability
1. 11 Scope and Limits of Extreme Situations for Highly Reliable Organizations: A Pragmatic Interpretation
  1. 11.1. Introduction
  2. 11.2. The growing interest in extreme situations
  3. 11.3. The pragmatist approach to situations
  4. 11.4. HROs: keeping extreme situations under control
  5. 11.5. The mutual influence of situations and organization: between normality and extremity
  6. 11.6. Extremity traps and extreme situations
  7. 11.7. Conditions for a contribution of extreme situations to the knowledge of situations and organizations
  8. 11.8. References
2. 12 Error in Decision-Making Processes in Operational Situations: The Case of Fire Rescue Organizations
  1. 12.1. Introduction
  2. 12.2. The study of ordinary situations in codified activities for decision making
  3. 12.3. Action-research methodology for analyzing decision making in situations
  4. 12.4. The case of the organization of rescue operations in forest firefighting operations: the management of cross-border operations
  5. 12.5. Perception of error as a practice for learning
  6. 12.6. References

Part 3: Register of the Intelligibility of Extreme Management Situations

Section 7: Meaning and Sensemaking
1. 13 Going to Extreme Situations: What Meaning Should be Given to Such a Project?
  1. 13.1. Introduction
  2. 13.2. Why go on a journey or an expedition?
  3. 13.3. The unavoidable concern of the quest for meaning
  4. 13.4. The project approach that generates meaning
  5. 13.5. The meaning of a project for its stakeholders: author and actors
  6. 13.6. The uncertainties linked to the project when thinking about extreme situations
  7. 13.7. What meaning should be given to the willingness to undertake the project?
  8. 13.8. To start a project, the art of steering a boat
  9. 13.9. References
2. 14 Sense, Sensitivity and Competence
  1. 14.1. Introduction
  2. 14.2. Norms, actions and cognitive activity
  3. 14.3. Meaning or sense?
  4. 14.4. Proposal for “common sense”
  5. 14.5. “Sensitivity to” and practical rationality
  6. 14.6. “Sensitivity to” and structured activity
  7. 14.7. “Sensitivity to” and competence
  8. 14.8. What about extreme situations according to this approach?
  9. 14.9. References
3. 15 A Sea Kayaker’s Identity Route and Learning Experience in the Arctic
  1. 15.1. Genesis
  2. 15.2. 2007: the initiation
  3. 15.3. 2008: the road to autonomy
  4. 15.4. 2009: fraternity
  5. 15.5. 2010: learning about limits, and the need for sharing
  6. 15.6. 2011: the discovery of a new territory
  7. 15.7. 2012: teaming up with a (nearly) unknown person
  8. 15.8. 2013: filiation (1)
  9. 15.9. 2014: the parallel world
  10. 15.10. 2015: filiation (2)
  11. 15.11. 2016: filiation (3) between adults
  12. 15.12. 2017: serenity and satisfaction
  13. 15.13. Knowledge and self-improvement, more than an identity journey
  14. 15.14. Putting everything into perspective
  15. 15.15. Conclusion
Section 8: Organizational Ambidexterity
1. 16 Organizational Ambidexterity: The Double Organic Ambidexterity
  1. 16.1. Summary
  2. 16.2. Double ambidexterity: an essential skill of the project manager
  3. 16.3. From polar expedition to organizational change
  4. 16.4. Methodological aspects
  5. 16.5. Identifying mode changes: transitions
  6. 16.6. Organic ambidexterity as a meta-competency
  7. 16.7. Conclusion
  8. 16.8. Acknowledgments
  9. 16.9. Appendix: changes in mode of action in all three cases
  10. 16.10. References
2. 17 Radical Change in an Extreme Context: Mountaineers Conquering the Darwin Cordillera in Patagonia
  1. 17.1. Introduction
  2. 17.2. The episode of radical change
  3. 17.3. Implementation of a radical change in an extreme context
  4. 17.4. Methodology
  5. 17.5. The implementation of radical change: from boat to bags
  6. 17.6. References
Section 9: The Expansion of Knowledge
1. 18 A Knowledge Corpus and Innovation
  1. 18.1. Creativity is not only based on imagination
  2. 18.2. The use of existing knowledge to improve creativity
  3. 18.3. Case study: a creative process based on knowledge in Thales Air Systems
  4. 18.4. Lessons learned and conditions for success
  5. 18.5. Appendix
  6. 18.6. References
2. 19 Community of Practice, Variation of Knowledge and Change in Extreme Management Situations
  1. 19.1. Introduction
  2. 19.2. Emerging change and knowledge variation through spontaneous CoPs
  3. 19.3. Change leads to constellations of communities
  4. 19.4. Induced change, knowledge expansion and pilot communities of practice
  5. 19.5. Conclusion
  6. 19.6. References
3. 20 Expanding Knowledge and Mobilizing Social Networks
  1. 20.1. Introduction
  2. 20.2. Innovation, network and knowledge expansion
  3. 20.3. Expanding knowledge: two examples in uncertain and risky situations
  4. 20.4. The contributions of the two streams of research in social network theory
  5. 20.5. Feedback and questions on these approaches
  6. 20.6. The question of the nature of ties the notion of a “potentially strong” weak tie
  7. 20.7. Conclusion: relational network and process of knowledge expansion
  8. 20.8. References
4. 21 The Crowd and the Expansion of Knowledge
  1. 21.1. Introduction
  2. 21.2. The crowds and knowledge
  3. 21.3. Crowds and the media
  4. 21.4. The new visions of the crowd
  5. 21.5. Internet: towards a wise crowd?
  6. 21.6. Crowds and knowledge expansion: crowdsourcing
  7. 21.7. Conclusion
  8. 21.8. References

Part 4: The Variety of Extreme Situations and Disciplinary Perspectives

Section 10: The Variety of Extreme Situations
1. 22 The Routines of Creation: From Artistic Direction to Collective Exploration
  1. 22.1. Introduction
  2. 22.2. Three training schemes in the creative industries
  3. 22.3. The routines of creation: from artistic direction to the collective exploration of talents
  4. 22.4. Conclusion
  5. 22.5. References
2. 23 The Young Researcher Program for Extreme Situations
  1. 23.1. Introduction
  2. 23.2. What is a power that promotes the emergence of potential action among actors in situations of uncertainty?
  3. 23.3. The terms of engagement and the processes for regulating collective action in the context of the liberated company: the case of Crédit Agricole Centre Loire
  4. 23.4. The rules of the game of an epistemic community
  5. 23.5. Constructing action knowledge for a wealth management advisor
  6. 23.6. Rethinking logistics from knowledge flows
  7. 23.7. Conclusion
  8. 23.8. References
Section 11: Disciplinary Perspectives
1. 24 Knowledge Transfer and Learning in Extreme Situations: The Psychologist’s Vision
  1. 24.1. Introduction
  2. 24.2. Knowledge transfer: a questionable notion
  3. 24.3. Learning: theoretical considerations
  4. 24.4. Collective skills, learning and strategic management
  5. 24.5. Conclusion
  6. 24.6. References
2. 25 Expeditions as a Legitimate Object in Management Sciences
  1. 25.1. Introduction
  2. 25.2. Expeditions as “legitimate objects”?
  3. 25.3. Generalization, rigor and relevance in articles in peer-reviewed journals dealing with expeditions
  4. 25.4. Challenges of producing “legitimate” knowledge from the expedition as an empirical object
  5. 25.5. References

Conclusion

C.1. Toward a dialogue with extremists! (Gilles Garel)
C.2. Learning from extreme situations and from the ethnographic approach (Monique Aubry)
C.3. The extreme is on the agenda of management sciences in the 21st Century (Pascal Lièvre)
C.4. References

List of Authors

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Introduction

Table I.1. Typology of management situations according to the actors’ degrees of...

Chapter 6

Table 6.1. Ethnography of the extreme: nature, functions and status of the video...

Chapter 9

Table 9.1. The organizational dimensions of creative climates

Chapter 16

Table 16.1. Respondent profile
Table 16.2. General trajectories of the three projects
Table 16.3. Changes in mode of action in all three cases

Chapter 21

Table 21.1. Crowdsourcing and knowledge expansion

Chapter 22

Table 22.1. Influence of the creator and their vision on the organization
Table 22.2. The characteristics of macro-routines and micro-routines

List of Illustrations

Chapter 2

Figure 2.1. Reconstruction of the Manhattan Project organization
Figure 2.2. Cross-section of the Hanford reactor design

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1. Learning styles according to David Kolb
Figure 3.2. “Canopy” role-playing game
Figure 3.3. Illustratating the necessary balance between exploration and exploit...
Figure 3.4. Example of a “management card”
Figure 3.5. Visual summary of the main messages
Figure 3.6. Macro of the training course
Figure 3.7. Timeline of training deployment
Figure 3.8. Expedition card

Chapter 8

Figure 8.1. Typology of companies with innovative design (Engelmann 2015)

Chapter 13

Figure 13.1. The metaphor of the five senses that accompany a boat in a project

Chapter 18

Figure 18.1. The model of “chaotic” evolution through the emergence of systems
Figure 18.2. The “chaotic” model of knowledge evolution by emergence
Figure 18.3. The funnel model for innovation according to Gidel (2004). Instrume...
Figure 18.4. The process of knowledge-based creativity
Figure 18.5. Representation in the form of a cognitive map for the “algorithms” ...
Figure 18.6. The service of a door frame
Figure 18.7. The evolution of door frame services throughout the history of vehi...

Chapter 21

Figure 21.1. reCaptcha window
Figure 21.2. Creative crowdsourcing process
Figure 21.3. The DIKW model
Figure 21.4. Crowdsourcing of complex tasks and learning

Chapter 24

Figure 24.1. MADDEC (model named after the French: modèle d’analyse dynamique po...
Figure 24.2. MADIC (French for modèle d’aide au développement individual des com...
Figure 24.3. Strategic management model (Coulet 2014)

First published 2019 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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The rights of Pascal Lièvre, Monique Aubry and Gilles Garel to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019943765

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78630-129-1

Preface

The Centre Culturel International de Cerisy proposes, each year from the end of May to early October and within the welcoming context of a 17th-Century castle, an historic monument, meetings to bring together artists, researchers, teachers, students, social and economical actors, as well as the wider public interested in cultural and scientific exchanges.

A long cultural tradition

– Between 1910 and 1939, Paul Desjardins organized the famous “decades” in Pontigny abbey, to unite eminent personalities for debates on literary, social and political themes.
– In 1952, Anne Heurgon-Desjardins, while repairing the castle, created the Centre Culturel and continued, with her own personal touch, the work of her father.
– From 1977 to 2006, her daughters, Catherine Peyrou and Edith Heurgon, took the lead and brought a new dimension to the activities.
– Today, after the departure of Catherine and then of Jacques Peyrou, Cerisy continues under the management of Edith Heurgon and Dominique Peyrou, supported by Anne Peyrou-Bas and Christian Peyrou, also part of Cerisy castle’s Civil Society, as well as with the support of an efficient and dedicated team led by Philippe Kister.

A like-minded original project

– They receive, in a prestigious setting far removed from urban disturbances and for a relatively long time period, people who are animated by the same attraction for discussion, in order to, through communal contemplation, invent new ideas and weave lasting connections.
– The Civil Society graciously puts the premises at the disposal of the Association des Amis de Pontigny-Cerisy, with no lucrative purpose and recognized for its public interest, currently presided over by Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld, the inspector general of finances.

A regularly supported action

– The Centre Culturel, the main means of action of the Association, has organized nearly 750 symposiums broaching, through completely independent routes, the most diverse of themes. These symposiums have given rise, through various editors, to the publication of approximately 550 books.
– The Centre National du Livre ensures continuous support to the organization and publication of the symposiums. The territorial collectivities (Normandy Region, department Council of the Manche, Coutances Mer and Bocage) and the regional directorate of cultural affairs bring their support to the Center, which also organizes, alongside the Universities of Caen and Rennes 2, encounters on themes concerning Normandy and the Great West.
– A Cercle des Partenaires, circle of partners, formed of enterprises, local collectives and public bodies, supports and even initiates prospective encounters on the main contemporary challenges.

Since 2012, a new modern and accessible conference room has allowed for a new formula: the “Entretiens de la Laiterie”, days for exchanges and debates, a collaborative effort from the partners of the Association.

Information:

CCIC, Le Château, 50210 Cerisy-la-Salle, France

Tel.: 02 33 46 91 66

Fax: 02 33 46 11 39

Website: www.ccic-cerisy.asso.fr; email: info.cerisy@ccic-cerisy.asso.fr

Cerisy Symposiums
Selection of Publications

L’Activité marchande sans le marché ?, Presses des Mines, 2010.

Le symbolique et le social (Pierre Bourdieu), Université de Liège, 2005, republication 2017.

Civilisations mondialisées : de l’éthologie à la prospective, L’Aube, 2004.

Communiquer/transmettre (autour de Régis Debray), Gallimard, 2001.

Les nouveaux régimes de la conception, Vuibert, republication, Hermann, 2014.

Connaissance, activité, organisation, La Découverte, 2005.

Déterminismes et complexités (autour d’Henri Atlan), La Découverte, 2008.

Le Développement durable, c’est enfin du bonheur !, L’Aube, 2005.

L’Économie de la connaissance et ses territoires, Hermann, 2010.

L’Économie des services pour un développement durable, L’Harmattan, 2007.

L’Entreprise, point aveugle du savoir, Éditions Sciences humaines, 2014.

Europe en mouvement – 1. À la croisée des cultures, Hermann, 2018.

L’Homme des sciences de l’homme, Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, 2013.

Imaginaire, industrie et innovation, Manucius, 2016.

Individualismes contemporains et individualités, PU de Rennes, 2010.

L’Industrie, notre avenir, Eyrolles, 2015.

Intelligence de la complexité, L’Aube, republication, Hermann, 2013.

Renouveau des jardins : clés pour un monde durable?, Hermann, 2014.

Nourritures jardinières dans les sociétés urbanisées, Hermann, 2016.

Jardins en politique avec Gilles Clément, Hermann, 2018.

La Jeunesse n’est plus ce qu’elle était, PU de Rennes, 2010.

Des possibles de la pensée (itinéraire philosophique de F. Jullien), Hermann, 2014.

Ce que la Misère nous donne à repenser, avec Joseph Wresinski, Hermann, 2018.

Penser la Négociation aujourd’hui, De Boeck, 2009.

S’orienter dans un monde en mouvement, L’Harmattan, 2018.

De Pontigny à Cerisy: des lieux pour « penser avec ensemble », Hermann, 2011.

La philosophie déplacée : autour de Jacques Rancière, Horlieu, 2006.

Prendre soin : savoirs, pratiques, nouvelles perspectives, Hermann, 2013.

Du Risque à la menace. Penser la catastrophe, PUF, 2013.

Sciences de la vie, sciences de l’information, ISTE Editions, 2017.

Des sciences sociales à la science sociale, Le Bord de l’eau, 2018.

La Sérendipité. Le hasard heureux, Hermann, 2011.

Gilbert Simondon et l’invention du futur, Klincksieck, 2016.

Lectures contemporaines de Spinoza, Presses universitaires Paris Sorbonne, 2012.

L’empreinte de la technique. Ethnotechnologie prospective, L’Harmattan, 2010.

Qu’est-ce qu’un régime de travail réellement humain, Hermann, 2018.

Universités populaires, hier et aujourd’hui, Autrement, 2012.

Villes, territoires, réversibilités, Hermann, 2013.

Le moment du vivant, PUF, 2016.

Management of Extreme Situations

From Polar Expeditions to Exploration-oriented Organizations

Preface

A long cultural tradition

A like-minded original project

A regularly supported action

Cerisy Symposiums
Selection of Publications